pookie170

Well done to him! He sounds a bit like my lad, even though Cal is only 11. Try as I might to warn people, every time he faces a big change, there will be a brief period of respite then BOOM! The aliens land and it all goes to pot for him! And it all depends on how he's handled as to how long it takes to settle back down again. It sounds like your son's had a big confidence boost though, Paula, and it's encouraging that he was managing to cope better by the end of the week. And aspirations, too. That's so cool, well done to him.

Oh arrgh, us too, when Cal was 2-ish!! God only knows what passersby must have thought as my enraged, hissing, fury charged child hurled himself around in my car, as I stood calmly outside reading a book, 'avin' a faaaag or somesuch thing. Again, message got through, though I did have to resort to confectionary bribery- he was only 2, bear in mind! I can recall standing outside weeping a few times, right enough, thinking 'I only want to go and get some shopping! Why is this soooo difficult? @~*!!%&~@!) You have my empathy on this one!!

Sounds interesting, Sooze.....like, recreate, man! Funny thing, my eldest has just discovered the peace sign and has been recreating it everywhere we go- he's really into it! We had a bizarre discussion on the CND with him and his wee brother on our way to Culross today, it was mental!

The thing with mumps and measles is that they are 'safer' to contract when younger. Yes, I know, I know, there have, are and always will be those who have a particularly bad reaction to the virus, where severe damage is wrought or possibly even death, but again, the likliehood of this happening is small. Even chickenpox carries such a risk- people have died from chickenpox, but most parents I know are keen for their kids to get this over with in childhood-a bit like the measles parties someone mentioned earlier! My boys have both had all their jabs, though with the littley, I waited until he was nearly four to get him immunised. (He had chickenpox at eight weeks old, btw, and suffered quite badly through it, poor wee mite! I had a scabby baby for WEEKS!) I just don't agree that it's sensible to introduce multiple pathogens into a wee baby's body at such a young age. One at a time, yes....... It's feasible in the sense that babies are likely to be exposed to an illness such as this whether they're young or not. Their bodies have an immature immune system but as thousands of parents will testify, they can usually cope with an illness and get through it relatively unscathed. But now we're giving two month old babies injections containing no less than FIVE different pathogens! The laboratory-produced pathogens themselves will never be anywhere near as virulent as those roaming free in the wild, if you like. They are deliberately much-weakened (in order to reduce the risks to the recipient). Some are not live but others (such as polio...I think!) need to be live in order to get the immune system to react to them properly, therefore invoking the production of cells that will remember the characteristics of the invading pathogen. This means that if the recipient should be exposed to the pathogen again, the immune response will be much quicker . Production of pathogen destroying cells that are specific to that pathogen will occur far quicker and much of the symptoms and horrendousness of having the measles, mumps, etc should be avoided. Now think about a two month old baby. They've been in sterile conditions since conception and have only been exposed to illnesses for 2 months......only 56 days during in which to develop resistances to germs and viruses, excepting those that may have been passed on from Mum (though by this stage, this passive immunity has 'worn off'.....) Now, hey ho, let's whack five pathogens right into their bloodstream and leave 'em to it.....I just don't think this is sensible. Where in the world would they be exposed to three, let alone five of these pathogens at one time?? I don't care what people can quote at me (though as always, laydeez and gents....and Baddad!! )I respect your right to disagree and have your own opinions! What's the problem with spacing it out a little bit more? Again, I understand the governments' stance, in that they are trying to provide babies with a safety net against illnesses that can be frankly devastating, and that the more time that elapses between each jab, the less protected the child is, but I cannot agree that they've got the balance right. I'm almost sure that when my eldest received his first jabs, it was a 3-in-one jab- with a side order of polio, perhaps. Now, we're at a 5-in-one jab- and the pressure to accept this is probably greater than it was when vaccinations were first introduced. What next? New vaccinations are being developed all the time...case in point, the new cervical cancer jab. Had I a daughter, I would actually be getting her vaccinated, but science advances constantly. Will our our children be facing a 10-in-one vaccination programme for their own newborn offspring?? I do actually think vaccination is a good thing- we may well be seeing the result of the drop in uptake in 10, 15 years time when unvaccinated adults contact the measles, mumps and suchlike and become terribly ill, perhaps suffering lifelong damage as a result. It may well be the case that many more foetuses will be damaged when their unvaccinated mothers contract these illnesses. Adult men could be rendered sterile, pregnant women may suffer mumps-induced miscarriages...all unpalatable thoughts, but realities nonetheless. I just wish that the process of vaccination could be less harsh......5 in one is just too many. (IMO, of course.) Anyhoo, below is a link to a gov'mnt site type thing with info on vaccination programmes, for anyone interested. http://www.immunisation.nhs.uk/Immunisation_Schedule For what its worth, I've had both my lads vaccinated and neither suffered to greatly form it. My aspie lad has ALWAYS been special, I knew it almost from the outset so on a personal level, there's no link here between his condition and the MMR. Rearding the genetic debate, I honestly can't say WHAT I would do if a test became available. I had absolutely no prenatal testing done during either pregnancy as I knew I would not have terminated if anything was found. Now though, I'm not so sure. I already have a child who needs more attention and time than the typical child and I feel stretched as it is sometimes, trying to give both my boys some quality time. Often, with my older son, I feel a lot of out time is not quality, but spent trying to deal with different aspects of his condition, or with the various agencies involved with him. And the littley misses out. It can be wretched. So I can't imagine how I would cope with another special needs child thrown into the equation. Would it be fair to ANY of them? Then again, the foetus has a right to life...arrgh!! I personally, have terribly mixed feelings on this issue, with regards to the discovery of a severely disabled child. I know too well the hell my Dad went through when his body let him down, and there he was left with a brilliant mindbut unable to perform the most basic of tasks for himself....He must have been screaming with frustration inside. I know he was....oh, arrgh, it's a question that is never going to have a black and white answer, it's all down to personal feeling ,opinions and experience..... All I know for sure is that I can't judge anyone on this kind of thing....

Aw! Well done to him, I'm glad you all had such a nice day. Good stuff! Esther x

I can't say that I've heard of any links, but I wonder if this might be linked to something along the lines of the coloured glasses that some people on the spectrum get prescribed.....Alas, I have no personal experience of that either, but someone else here might? The only thing I can say with any confidence is that its hard to get good black tones on an LCD tv, due to the nature of the beast. But I can't fathom how that might link to depression. I believe that all TV screens, monitors and the like emit a tiny amount of UV rays, but can't find anything (easily understandable anythings at least!) on the net that compares these...... Alas, I have no personal experience of that either, but someone else here might?

Hello and welcome, MegansMummy!

Hi, szxmum, glad you joined our gang! I think the guilt thing is common to many of us parents here.......but the more you learn, the more you come to realise that no-one's to blame and that there are great huge silver linings mixed in with all the other stuff too. Not least, becoming a part of the forum! Nice to 'meet' you! Esther x

Hello. MrA! Nice to 'meet' you!

Oh, Mumble, I've got no medical knowledge to impart but just wanted to say how glad I am that you're recovering from the meningitis. This must be a rather scary and bewildering time for you, with the seizures, but I'll keep you in my thoughts and hope you get some answers or suchlike from your consultant next week. Try and get as much rest as you can, and take care of yourself hon. It's great to have you back here! Esther x

I agree completely. There have been times when I've just been too down to post, but even just lurking here and reading posts helps to buoy you back up. And I've got to say that over the years, some of the advice I've been given has made such a difference........It's a fab place to come! Esther x

Oh my....you wouldn't believe how long it taken us to get an actual diagnosis for Cal.......and just like you, we went along, none the wiser, thinking after many appointments that the DX had been given already. So you are not alone!!

Ooh, this strikes a chord! My eldest puts together some of the oddest combos of clothes, and went through a stage a while back of insisting on wearing a smart shirt with tracky bottoms!! He's now infatuated with wearing a rather stylish faux leather jacket everywhere we go, because it looks like the one his uncle wears. Problem is, it's not up to withstanding much of our marvellous Scottish weather, and today he wore it on our trip to Deep Sea World......we ventured outside to visit the seal sanctuary, and as the centre is situated right near the Forth Road Bridge, there wasn't so much a stiff breeze as a gentle gale buffeting us as we strolled sealwards. I turned to point something out to the boys, and Lije was quite comfortable in his winter jacket. Cal, however, could have joined in the Tattoo with the rythmic chattering of his teeth, and his extremities were turning a fetching shade of blue. 'See?' I said, never one to sidestep an I-told-you-so moment (heheh!) 'That jacket isn't warm enough, is it? You should have worn your other jaket.' 'It's not the jacket!' he shivered, indignantly, 'It's the world that's not warm enough!' Well, what can you say to that?

Arrgh! WWE!!!! Ohhh, my head is reeling from the constant flow of wrestler stats, fight stats, and other 'interesting' related information!!! Ooooh.....Iit doesn't help that I hate the wretched 'wrestling' myself.... Wrestling! Pah! Call that wrestling?? Jumped up himbos with hammy acting skills and dreadful storylines, dressed in lurid pants and cheesy masks?? In my day, wrestlers may well have been ugly and sweaty and overweight, but they actually wrestled! Good gosh, imagine that! I found a clip of an old wrestling match featuring Big Daddy, and my sons nearly laughed themselves into a hernia.......... Anyway, that and super mario, my lad is obsessed with. Spongebob appears to be on the back burner (never thought I'd say this, but BRING HIM BACK, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEEEEEAAASSEE!!!!) at the moment...... Add to this is my littley joining in with the WWE fests, and a Star Wars fixation......and my OH is guitar daft, so even if I watch something like a music dvd, I get a running background commentary on make, model, which company sponsors which guitarist.... Never mind holiday camps for kids, where are the holiday camps for parents??????

ticket

club

Enjoy yourself, hon!

Heheh, you've just sparked off a series of delightful memories of my good old Dad (he had MS and clinical depression, btw) and I, sitting at the table after Christmas dinner, punning madly at each other, long after the rest of the family had bored of our quips and drifted away.....them were the days!!! Hope you enjoy being a part of this forum, Nocti!! Esther x

Hi Janet, my aspie lad is only 11 so I don't have quite the same kind of perspective as Bid, but what I think might be useful is this- I was a lecturer at a local college and I dealt with students who had many, hugely varied additional needs. However neither I, nor the CQL/Head of departments were ever informed as to the nature of these needs or even given any advice on how best to support these needs during teaching. It was plainly obvious if someone turned up with visual aids, and we were informed when of a few, practical things such as 'xxxx requires all handouts to be printed on pink paper' but even down to things like someone needing to sit near the board, we were told nothing. Of course, student confidentiality and privacy is paramount and I would never seek to take those things away from someone, but it was nigh on impossible to meet some students needs without basic knowledge of how we could best support them.... I think it would be an excellent idea to ask each student whether or not their lecturers could be informed of their conditions, at least then they'd have a fighting chance of getting the support they deserve. We muddled through, mainly through discussing problems with the students themselves, but some were not able to communicate their needs- heck, they barely knew me, and knew my Dept.Head not at all- it must have been so intimidating for them. I hated,hated,hated knowing that I was failing them and was powerless to do anything about it. But my protests were always met with a stock 'This is college/government policy-we're not allowed to disclose.' (I hasten to add, my superiors hands were as tied as mine!) I would have been more than agreeable to signing any sort of declaration of confidentiality in order to have the appropriate level of knowledge to meet those students' basic needs...... I don't know if my rambling post is of any use, but thought I'd include it anyway.... Good luck with the job, it sounds great and I bet you'll enjoy it immensely. Just be prepared for a bit of frustration in the form of admin and red tape! Esther x

Oh dear, sounds like a bad day alright....... Bear in mind that you can lock your phone, so that he can't use it. (I think you need to call your service provider to access this though? Correct me if I'm wrong, folks! ) Did the policeman speak with your son? He's only 5, of course, so it can't really be expected that he'd be able to think of possible consequences but I wonder if theres material out there to help illustrate the seriousness of his actions to him..... Certainly, your local police force/ fire service should be able to give you some pointers or material to look through with your son. They should be fairly obliging in this and I fully expect that their aim would not be to frighten your son but to get this through to him..... I hope tomorrows rather calmer for you... Estherx

Glad he's trying new things! Long may it continue! Esther x

I can only echo the other comments, it was champion. His Joseph vid was great too, I loved how he used movement along with the words....... He's very talented, Stella......I found his voice rather moving. My Mum would have LOVED it.

Aw, BD....... Give this one a try, it never fails to cheer me up!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ehden6aPl0 Or this-put it on, fou bung and jump around, it's great! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whSYTSXm8wo...feature=related

Heh, I just checked and mine was 2 days before yours, Bid!! Happy 5th Forumday!!

That's atrocious! Words fail me........ Here's a link to the article in question.... http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/health/artic...ols-chiefs.html